So friends, my topic is materially the same as the one listed in the program,

but just kind of for fun, I changed the title, even though it's the same topic.

But the title is, is a secular university a contradiction in terms?

And so it's an open question.

But it pertains to the role of theology at the university in the end. And so it's an open question.

But it pertains to the role of theology at the university in the end.

As a kind of prelude to writing these remarks, I began to rummage around in university mission statements.

Starting from my own, our university mission statement informs the interest in public that, quote, the University of Notre Dame is dedicated to the pursuit and sharing of truth for its own sake, end quote.

I have to confess, and to my chagrin, that I had always found our mission statement equally parts pallid and desultory.

But my brief tour through other university mission statements caused me to rethink this somewhat hasty judgment.

The pursuit of truth has fallen on hard times, at least if university mission statements are any education.

None of the Ivy League schools, nor Chicago, nor Columbia, or MIT mentioned either

the search for truth or the word truth itself. Some do not even mention knowledge.

The mission statement of a school of which I am an alum can serve as a representative example.

Quote, Yale is committed to improving the world today and for future generations

through outstanding research and scholarship, education, preservation, and practice.

Yale educates aspiring leaders worldwide,

who serve all sectors of society.

We carry out this mission through the free exchange of ideas

and an ethical, independent, and diverse community of faculty,

staff, students, and alumni."

In a way, what's not to like?

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